Effingham sales tax question goes to court

Friday

Nov 30, 2012 at 4:11 PM

G.G. Rigsby

Effingham County and the cities of Rincon, Springfield and Guyton have been unable to reach an agreement on how to divide local-option sales tax (LOST) dollars and have asked a superior court judge to decide.

Negotiations that started July 1 and included the help of mediator Patrick O'Connor of Oliver Maner in Savannah did not lead to an agreement, said County Attorney Eric Gotwalt.

A petition filed Nov. 21 in Effingham County Superior Court asks a judge to set a date for the county and cities to file their "best and final offer" and hold hearings "as deemed necessary" before making a decision.

Gotwalt said he expects three offers to be presented, from the county, Rincon and Springfield. State law calls for the judge to use "baseball arbitration," choosing one of the offers without modification. The judge's decision will be binding.

Until a decision is made, the county and cities will continue with the current formula, with the county collecting 77 percent, Rincon getting 14 percent, Springfield taking 6 percent and Guyton getting 3 percent.

Distribution of the 1-cent-per-dollar sales tax is re-negotiated every decade, based on Census data. The debate is an important one, determining the fate of about $8.4 million a year countywide.

Rincon Interim City Manager Wesley Corbitt has said how the money is divided could impact whether the city is able to continue rolling back all of its property tax millage, so that residents don't pay property tax.